BILOXI, Miss. � Pensacola�s Frederic Cloutier made 53 saves, while Jordan Krestanovich scored a pair of goals to lead the Ice Pilots to their seventh straight victory by downing the Mississippi Sea Wolves 4-1 before 3,594 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
�We did a lot of things well tonight, but our mistakes killed us,� Mississippi coach Bob Woods said. �We outshot them and worked hard, but they have players that can't be let loose. The Ice Pilots are a very potent team and they made the most of their opportunities. Hopefully we can get on the winning track tomorrow at Texas.�
Pensacola (29-11-4, 62 points) opened the score on a four-on-four scenario at 13:13 of the first period. Jason Beckett snapped a shot over the left glove of goaltender Jason Wolfe. Beckett�s seventh goal of the season was assisted by Aaron Phillips.
Mississippi (21-16-3, 45 points) outshot Pensacola 13-8 in the first, but Frederic Cloutier kept the Sea Wolves at bay.
The Ice Pilots made it 2-0 at 1:23 of the second. Scott May fed Krestanovich on a 2-on-1 break. Krestanovich counted his 12th tally of the year.
The Sea Wolves cut the margin in half on the power play. Anthony Battaglia wired a right cirlce shot past Cloutier for his 13th tally of the year. Assists went to Mike Jarmuth, who extended his point streak to seven games and Jay Legault.
Pensacola would regain its two-goal lead on a 5-on-3 power play. Corey Neilson, who leads ECHL defenseman in points, took a point shot, which was re-directed in by Dwayne Hay for his 18th marker of the campaign. Tyler Beechey, who leads the ECHL in scoring, picked up an assist for his 57th point of the year.
Pensacola grabbed a three-goal lead and put the game away in the third. On an odd-man rush May and Krestanovich combined for a carbon-copy goal to round out the scoring.
Mississippi converted on 1-of-6 power play chances, while Pensacola went 1-for-3. Sea Wolves, which tied their season-high total in shots, outshot the Ice Pilots 54-27.
Additional note: ECHL Commissioner Brian McKenna was in attendance.
Mississippi travels to Beaumont, Texas for a 7:05 p.m. game tomorrow against the Texas Wildcatters at Ford Arena. Watch the game live on a pay-per-view basis online, courtesy of B2 Networks, at msseawolves.com. Listen to the action live on WGCM-AM 1240 or online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of Teamline.
The Sea Wolves next home game is at 7:35 p.m. on Friday against the South Carolina Stingrays at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Promotion for the game consists of Military 2-for-1, sponsored by Keesler Federal Credit Union, which offers all military personnel, active or retired, two tickets for the price of one by showing military identification at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office.
Individual tickets for home games can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.
Flex packs, discounted groups tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling (228) 275-WOLF or online at msseawolves.com.
--- Box Score ---
SCORE BY PERIODS
Pensacola 1 2 1--4
Mississippi 0 1 0--1
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Pensacola-Beckett 7 (Phillips) 13:13.
Penalties: O'Keefe, PEN (Cross checking), 4:42. Materukhin, PEN
(Kneeing), 11:13. Mastad, MIS (Holding), 12:56.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Pensacola-Krestanovich 12 (game winner)
(May) 1:23. 3, Mississippi-Battaglia 13 (power play) (Jarmuth;
Legault) 7:09. 4, Pensacola-Hay 18 (power play) (Beechey; Neilson)
17:13. Penalties: Kinkel, PEN (Roughing, Double minor), 5:05.
Stokes, PEN (Interference), 9:33. Dumont, MIS (Slashing), 15:28.
Beckett, PEN (Roughing), 16:48. Evangelista, MIS (Roughing), 16:48.
O'Leary, MIS (Roughing), 16:48.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Pensacola-Krestanovich 13 (May; Phillips)
7:01. Penalties: Phillips, PEN (Tripping), 3:11. Gionet, PEN
(Roughing), 9:27. Beckett, PEN (Roughing), 10:40. O'Keefe, PEN
(Holding), 12:57. Corbeil, MIS (Slashing), 12:57. Kinkel, PEN
(Fighting, Major), 16:18. Miller, MIS (Fighting, Major), 16:18.
Kinkel, PEN (Ten minute misc.), 16:18. Gionet, PEN (Fighting, Major),
17:42. Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major), 17:42. Stokes, PEN (Slashing),
18:21. O'Leary, MIS (Slashing), 18:21. O'Keefe, PEN (Roughing),
19:59. Corbeil, MIS (Slashing), 19:59.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Pensacola 8 11 8--27
Mississippi 13 17 24--54
Power Play Conversions: Pensacola - 1 of 3, Mississippi - 1 of 6.
Goalies: Pensacola-Cloutier (54 shots, 53 saves; record: 17-9-3).
Mississippi-Wolfe (27 shots, 23 saves; record: 7-8-0).
A: 3594. Referee: Bialota. Linesmen: Ross; Stanton.
